1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and a method for carrying out a scraping process by using a robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, when a scraping process is carried out as a fine finishing process for a sliding surface or a guiding surface of a machine device, a medium (red lead) or a pigment is applied to a surface to be processed, and an operator manually carries out the scraping process by using a scraping tool, while visually checking for color difference on the surface.
Since such a process is tedious and labor-intensive, it has been proposed to use a robot so as to automatically carry out the scraping process. For example, JP H05-123921 A describes that concavity and convexity of a processing surface of an object to be processed are displayed by color; the position and inclination of the processing surface of the object are measured by using a processing robot; the processing surface displayed by color is captured by the robot; the convexity to be scraped is identified and stored by a control system; and the processing robot is operated by the control system based on the identification so as to carry out the scraping process.
As another relevant prior art document regarding the scraping process using a robot, JP 2010-240809 A discloses an automatic scraping device having a robot and a scraping tool detachably attached to a hand of the robot, in which the scraping tool is operated so as to carry out a scraping process of a processing surface of an object to be processed.
In the technique of JP H05-123921 A, the scraping process may be automated by attaching the scraping tool to the robot. However, it is difficult to carry out the scraping process when a conventional scraping tool is attached to the robot. Concretely, due to a reactive force, etc., applied to the scraping tool during the scraping, the robot cannot stiffly grip the scraping tool and the tool may slip on the surface, whereby the scraping process cannot be appropriately carried out.
On the other hand, JP 2010-240809 A describes that a cutting angle of the scraping tool may be changed based on the shape of a marking part so as to prevent an amount of cutting from being decreased. However, the control of the robot may be complicated due to such a configuration, and the tool may also slip in such a case.